BitDefender TrafficLight 1.5.0.201 (beta)

BitDefender TrafficLight is a browser security addon that comes packed with features.

It doesn't just aim to highlight dangerous websites in your search results, for example: there's also a link filter that checks links from social networking sites; a malware filter detects and blocks malware that you might encounter online; a phishing filter prevents you from accessing fraudulent sites; and there's also an ad filter, and even a URL shortening service that uses saf.li to check your target links for viruses and phishing scams.

And better still, the program should work with just about every browser around, out of the box.

You don't want yet another browser toolbar? Neither does anyone else, and fortunately BitDefender seem to have realised this. So in normal operation, the only interface TrafficLight presents is a tiny block at the top of the page, which displays a red, green or amber light to indicate the safety of the current page.

At least, that's the plan. On our test PC there were no lights shown at all, ever, which made the display quite useless. Still, the search engine highlighting worked, with the program quickly highlighting safe links with reassuring green ticks. And the program correctly blocked us when we tried to visit a phishing site, so even in its initial beta form there is plenty of useful functionality here.

RAM use is currently quite high, however, with the TrafficLight service initially consuming just over 30MB, then rising to more than 50MB in just a few minutes of browsing. Don't let this put you off giving the program a try, though - it's probably also related to TrafficLight being in beta, and we'd hope for some reductions in the finished version.

Verdict

TrafficLight is a little buggy right now, and uses more RAM than we'd like. It's only a beta, though, and the program already includes plenty of useful features, so if you're interested in browser security then it's definitely worth a look